LAS VEGAS – As teen pregnancy rates and birth rates decline across the nation Nevada continues to remain in the top 10 for teen pregnancies. This evening the Southern Nevada Teen Pregnancy Coalition will host a forum to bring community leaders together to address strategies to reduce teen pregnancy rates as a means of improving the state’s health status, strengthening education and workforce competiveness, and reducing taxpayer costs.

“Teen pregnancy imposes enormous social and financial costs on our community. By preventing unplanned pregnancies we can improve not only the teen mother’s future but address serious social issues such as poverty, child abuse, maternal-child health issues, and the ability of our teens to successfully finish school and compete in the workforce,” said Brenda Aguilar, vice-chair of the Southern Nevada Teen Pregnancy Coalition.

A financial analysis by the non-profit organization, National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy states that teen childbearing in Nevada cost taxpayers at least $68 million in 2010. These expenditures included increased costs for health care, foster care, incarceration and lost tax revenue associated with reduced education and, consequently, earnings and spending among teen mothers, their partners and their children.

Between 1991 and 2010 the teen birth rate in Nevada declined by 48 percent. The coalition is working to sustain this progress by engaging community leaders through this forum and other community-centered activities. The forum is scheduled for:

The mission of the Southern Nevada Teen Pregnancy Coalition is to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and infections among the youth of Southern Nevada through education, training, advocacy, and increased access to services. The coalition’s vision is a society that empowers youth to make health and responsible decisions, and a community that empowers youth to be productive contributors to society.